The coexistence of visual impairments and learning disabilities presents unique challenges. It is imperative that teachers be apprised of the characteristics of this population as well as instructional strategies targeted at meeting their unique needs. The authors highlight typical patterns of performance and provide suggestions for effective intervention.
AgranM.King-SearsM.WehmeyerM.CopelandS. (2003). Teacher’s guide to inclusive practice: Student-directed learning. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
2.
BarragaN. C.ErinJ. N. (1992). Visual handicaps and learning. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
3.
BaumingerN.EdelszteinH. S.MorashJ. (2005). Social information processing and emotional understanding in children with LD. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 45–61.
4.
BoltS. E.ThurlowM. L. (2004). A synthesis of research on five of the most frequently allowed testing accommodations in state policy. Remedial and Special Education, 25(3), 141–152.
5.
CartledgeG. (2005). Learning disabilities and social skills: Reflections. Learning Disability Quarterly, 28, 179–181.
6.
CornA.RyserG. (1989). Access to print for students with low vision. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 86, 68–71.
7.
CoxP. R.DykesM. K. (2001). Effective classroom adaptions for students with visual impairments. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33, 68–74.
8.
DurlakC. M.RoseE.BursuckW. D. (1994). Preparing high school students with learning disabilities for the transition to postsecondary education: Teaching the skills of self-determination. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27(1), 51–59.
9.
EmersonR.W.HolbrookM.C.D’AndreaF.M. (2009). Acquisition of literacy skills by young children who are blind: Results from the ABC Braille Study. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 103, 610–624.
10.
ErinJ. N.KoenigA. J. (1997). The student with visual disability and a learning disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 309–320.
11.
EstellD. B.JonesM. H.PearR.AckerR. V.FarmerT. W.RodkinP. C. (2008). Trajectories of social functioning among students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41, 5–14.
12.
FieldS.SarverM. D.ShawS. F. (2003). Self-determination: A key to success in postsecondary education for students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 24(6), 339–349.
13.
FowlerC. H.KonradM.WalkerA. R.TestD. W.WoodW. M. (2007). Self-determination interventions’ effects on the academic performance of students with developmental disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 42, 270–285.
HallenbeckM. J. (2002). Taking charge: Adolescents with learning disabilities assume responsibility for their own writing. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25, 227–246.
16.
HandlerS. M.FiersonW. M. (2011). Learning disabilities, dyslexia, and vision. Pediatrics, 127, e818–e856.
17.
JaffeL. E. (2011). Learning is the best therapy: The emotional consequences of a learning disability. In MatherN.JaffeL .E (Eds.), Comprehensive evaluations: Case reports for psychologists (pp. 109–127). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
18.
JudgeS.BellS. (2010). Reading achievement trajectories for students with learning disabilities during the elementary school years. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 27(1–2), 153–178.
19.
KalloniatisM.JohnstonA. W. (1994). Visual environment adaptation problems of partially sighted children. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 88, 234–243.
20.
KennedyM. (2004). Selecting individualized reading material for informal assessment of students with visual impairments. RE:View: Rehabilitation and Education for Blindness and Visual Impairment, 35(4), 179–183. doi:10.3200/REVU.35.4.179–184
21.
KonradM.HelfS.ItoiM. (2007). More bang for the book: Using children’s literature to promote self-determination and literacy skills. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40, 64–71.
22.
KosmaM.CardinalB. J.RintalaP. (2002). Motivating individuals with disabilities to be physically active. Quest, 54, 116–132.
23.
LaytonC.LockR. (2001). Determining learning disabilities in students with low vision. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 5, 288–299.
24.
LeeS. H.WehmeyerM. L.SoukupJ. H.PalmerS. B. (2010). Impact of curriculum modifications on access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 76, 213–233.
25.
LernerJ. W.JohnsB. (2009). Learning disabilities and related mild disabilities: Characteristics, teaching strategies, and new directions. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
26.
LewisS.IselinS. A. (2002). A comparison of the independent living skills of primary students with visual impairments and their sighted peers: A pilot study. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 94, 335–344.
27.
LipkowitzS.MithaugD. E. (2003). Assessing self-determination prospects of students with different sensory impairments. In MithaugD. E.MithaugD. K.AgranM.MartinJ. E.WehmeyerM. L. (Eds.), Self-determined learning theory: Construction, verification, and evaluation (pp. 104–120). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
28.
MartiL. (2004). Helping children with nonverbal learning disability: What I have learned from living with nonverbal learning disability. Journal of Child Neurology, 19(10), 830–836.
29.
MatherN.JaffeL.E. (2002). Woodcock-Johnson III: Reports, recommendations, and strategies. New York, NY: John Wiley.
30.
McGuireJ.McDonnellJ. (2008). Relationships between recreation and levels of self-determination for adolescents and young adults with disabilities. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 31, 154–163.
31.
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (2008). Table 14: Percentage of students ages 6 through 21 served under IDEA, Part B, by educational environment, year and disability category: fall 1997 and fall 2006. In 30th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved from https://www.ideadata.org/arc_toc11.asp#partbLRE
32.
RobinsonB. (2002). Effects of visual impairment, gender and age on self-determination of children who are blind. Unpublished master’s thesis, State University of New York, Brockport.
33.
SacksS. Z.LueckA. H.CornA. L.ErinJ. N. (2011). Supporting the social and emotional needs of students with low vision to promote academic and social success: Position paper of the Division on Visual Impairments, Council for Exceptional Children. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
34.
SchuchardtK.MaehlerC.HasselhornM. (2008). Working memory deficits in children with specific learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41, 514–523.
35.
SettleS. A.MilichR. (1999). Social persistence following failure in boys and girls with LD. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32, 201–212.
36.
ShapiroD. R.LiebermanL. J.MoffettA. (2003). Strategies to improve perceived competence in children with visual impairments. RE:View: Rehabilitation and Education for Blindness and Visual Impairment, 35, 69–80.
37.
ShaywitzS. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia. New York, NY: Knopf.
38.
Smith-D’ArezzoW. M. (2003). Diversity in children’s literature: Not just a black and white issue. Children’s Literature in Education, 34, 75–94.
TroughtonM. (1992). Learning disabilities and how they affect a person’s ability to learn contracted Braille. Retrieved from http://snow.idrc.ocad.ca/node/155
41.
VellutinoF. R.FletcherJ. M.SnowlingM. J.ScanlonD. M. (2004). Specific reading disability (dyslexia): What have we learned in the past four decades?Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 2–40.
WallR.CornA. L. (2004). Students with visual impairments in Texas: Description and extrapolation of data. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 98(6), 341–350.
44.
WehmeyerM. L.PalmerS. B.AgranM.MithaugD. E.MartinJ. E. (2000). Promoting casual agency: The self-determined learning model of instruction. Exceptional Children, 66, 439–453.
45.
WoodsR.LindseyJ. (1994). Perceived and actual mathematical competencies of children with visual impairments and learning disabilities. Psychological Reports, 74, 238.
